No start-“unknown driver”

[Michigan]

So I haven’t drove my truck in a week. I go to start it. Battery dead. It was under 4 volts. Got it up to 12.6 or so. Tried starting it but it says “unknown driver” in the dic.

I have a viper alarm/remote system. I think that locked it out?


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[Big Mama]

Start with the battery. It shouldn’t discharge in a week. Does your alarm require a fob to be present to start it like newer rigs? Have the owner’s manual for the alarm?

 

[Michigan]

No my fob doesn’t need to be present to start I’m pretty sure.

I should note that once the battery was up to voltage the power locks were still not working.

So it had power and wanted to start but just would not turn over. There was no clicking noise when trying to start once the battery was charged. I think it might be some type of kill switch with the viper system

I’m thinking to try disconnecting negative cable and reconnecting. The alarm install place (Mickey shorr) says not to do that because it will send a second surge and possibly cause more problems. Any advice?


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[Doubeleive]

disconnect your battery again and then go flip the lights on/off and turn the ignition on/off a couple times, hit the brake pedal. (this will clear any static power) then hook your battery back up and try again, you wont hurt the alarm, you do want to be sure it is disarmed with the fob though of course the viper does have a start kill but wouldn't make the DIC display anything like that

 

[Michigan]

disconnect your battery again and then go flip the lights on/off and turn the ignition on/off a couple times, hit the brake pedal. (this will clear any static power) then hook your battery back up and try again, you wont hurt the alarm, you do want to be sure it is disarmed with the fob though of course the viper does have a start kill but wouldn't make the DIC display anything like that

The thing is I think since the battery got so low on voltage the key fob will no longer respond. Even after getting the voltage back up to 12.6. If I hit the key flood buttons it doesn’t do anything. The light comes on the key fob so I know the battery in the fob is good but no response to the alarm


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[Doubeleive]

The thing is I think since the battery got so low on voltage the key fob will no longer respond. Even after getting the voltage back up to 12.6. If I hit the key flood buttons it doesn’t do anything. The light comes on the key fob so I know the battery in the fob is good but no response to the alarm


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did you try what I said to do?, however dumb or stupid it may sound just give it a try these trucks have weird electrical problems sometimes especially when the battery goes dead.
if what I said does not work, then proceed and to check the voltage at the battery terminals with the key on, if you have a helper check the voltage again while the ignition is in the start position. if it drops below 10.5 volts it "might" not start no matter what and the battery is probably still not charged or has gone bad.

 

[Michigan]

did you try what I said to do?, however dumb or stupid it may sound just give it a try these trucks have weird electrical problems sometimes especially when the battery goes dead.
if what I said does not work, then proceed and to check the voltage at the battery terminals with the key on, if you have a helper check the voltage again while the ignition is in the start position. if it drops below 10.5 volts it "might" not start no matter what and the battery is probably still not charged or has gone bad.

Will try and respond back here. Just trying to get all the info I needed since I have a tight schedule and not much free time. I appreciate and let you guys know the outcome


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[Doubeleive]

Will try and respond back here. Just trying to get all the info I needed since I have a tight schedule and not much free time. I appreciate and let you guys know the outcome


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other things you can check is your battery cables be sure the ends are clean, battery terminals are clean, if you get it started then also check your alternator power output with the engine running you should be getting 13v+ at the battery. good luck

 

[Big Mama]

My old Silverado’s alarm had a reset button under the dash, but could be anywhere, have you tried that too? Here’s a similar post.

https://chevroletforum.com/forum/tahoe-suburban-25/2004-tahoe-"unknown-driver"-message-19798/

 

[Michigan]

Well guys, you can officially call me a *******. So I charged up the battery fully. My plan was to go unhook the negative cable but as soon as I had opened the door to pop my hood my alarm went off and this was 12:30 am. I panicked because of the noise and tried to unhook the negative but I didn’t think about how the battery basically sits in the tray backwards so I’m thinking righty righty from the front of the hood and I tried hurrying up and doing it so I can disconnect it and turn the alarm off but I stripped the bolt. Finally alarm stops and I just quit till the next day. I guess there was some corrosion around the bolt and inner cable.

I got the cable bolts out and bought new ones. Again short on time and rushing to get the new bolts through the cable rubber housing seams impossible as the ring around the bolt is larger than the rubber housing. The guy at the parts store told me to heat it up with a blow dryer and see if I can get it in that way but seams impossible. Again I was short on time. I watched a video of a guy do it fairly easy using Vaseline to live it up and a small picker to work around the rubber housing. Any tips on how to get the bolt through?

Also regarding the unknown driver I called the dealer and he read about it and came up with a pinched wire underneath drivers seat. I don’t know about that but I also found this relearn procedure on the internet although I’m hoping it corrected itself after I get the battery back in.

Also I did have the battery tested at advanced auto and it came back good and I got some crc battery terminal spray to spray and clean with a brush

https://www.justanswer.com/gm/2qxkv-unknown-driver-reset-theft-security-so.html

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[Michigan]

So finally had time to get to the truck. I had fully charged the battery while I had it out the truck.

I replaced the battery cable bolts with the new ones. Hooked up the battery and everything started normal. Alarm went off but I was able to disable with the key fob.

Showed driver 2 in the dic and no more mysterious “unknown driver”

Also I cleaned up the cables.

Not sure what is causing my battery to drain like this and make my voltage drop. Maybe the alarm system or just corrosion connection issue


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[SnowDrifter]

Some of the modules flip shit at low voltage. Had an issue with mine a couple years back where the radio was stuck on and the thing thought it was in reverse

d/c battery, stomp on brakes, reconnect, good to go.

 

[OR VietVet]

It may be more of a failure to charge fully because of the corrosion and crud at the battery cable ends. I would get some new cables and install and make sure the other ends are attached securely with all crud/corrosion cleaned off. By the way, the battery cable bolt is designed with the shoulder so that they stay in the end, instead of falling out, when you disconnect them. I lived in cold weather before and just applied a small amount of grease on the shoulder of bolt or edge of rubber cable end and used a ratchet wrench, 5/16", and while spinning it in I pushed at the same time and it always popped right in, even in below zero weather. Since you did not say I can only assume that the cables are OE and really should have been replaced before. Maintenance work like that in the cold sucks hind *** but so does frustrations in the cold. My dad always said, "Maintenance pays and breakdowns cost".

When all is said and done, check alternator output under load conditions.

 

[Big Mama]

As Ron stated let it cycle through for a few days before diving too deep. Once you have good connections you may find all is well but I’d test the alternator for sure.

 

[Doubeleive]

So finally had time to get to the truck. I had fully charged the battery while I had it out the truck.

I replaced the battery cable bolts with the new ones. Hooked up the battery and everything started normal. Alarm went off but I was able to disable with the key fob.

Showed driver 2 in the dic and no more mysterious “unknown driver”

Also I cleaned up the cables.

Not sure what is causing my battery to drain like this and make my voltage drop. Maybe the alarm system or just corrosion connection issue


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all that corrosion is 50% of the problem or more, I would invest in new cables, especially now that we are heading into winter, after you put the new cables on then check your voltage at the battery with the engine running you should have 13v+ if that checks out then you should be good to go. It's going to suck if you go somewhere and get stranded when it's freezing cold and raining and windy in the middle of the night, just saying......been there it sucks. at the very least get a $2 wire brush and scrub the hell out of it then get those little green and red terminal protector pads that help prevent corrosion.

 

[Michigan]

all that corrosion is 50% of the problem or more, I would invest in new cables, especially now that we are heading into winter, after you put the new cables on then check your voltage at the battery with the engine running you should have 13v+ if that checks out then you should be good to go. It's going to suck if you go somewhere and get stranded when it's freezing cold and raining and windy in the middle of the night, just saying......been there it sucks. at the very least get a $2 wire brush and scrub the hell out of it then get those little green and red terminal protector pads that help prevent corrosion.

Great tips. Thanks. I’m going to check the voltage with engine running soon. The change reads about 14 volts or so on the cluster if that’s reliable. I’m going to look into the protectors your talking about. I have a yellow top optima by the way. Advance auto said it checked out fine


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[Michigan]

So I just went out to the truck after about 20 hours of it not being started or driven. It last had read 12.6 20 hours ago. Just now before I started it, it read 12.1 volts. I started the truck and it read 14.8 volts so I guess that means alternator is pumping out the juice. Problem is I have been letting this truck sit lately because I’ve been driving another vehicle. Something is taking some juice from it.

Is it common for an aftermarket alarm/remote start system to do this? It’s a viper alarm remote start system. Or it can be issues mentioned above with corrosion or connection but I’m suspecting the viper system for some reason. I think the led blue light in the control unit flashes all night long. The control unit for the viper system which they placed on the rear view mirror but would that be enough juice to cause the battery to drain?


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[Big Mama]

ive Only had one aftermarket alarm and it drained my battery too. It was a Viper if that helps. Question for you is do you need it? My old truck didn’t have an alarm so I put up with it. You may not need to.

 

[Michigan]

I don’t need the alarm as I live in a nice neighborhood. I work in Detroit but I park right in front of my work and I have access to cameras.

I didn’t want the alarm. They sold me on the alarm/remote start system. If I can do it over I would have just bought the remote start. Guess I will look into having the alarm disconnected


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[Doubeleive]

sounds to me more like a combination of the corrosion and battery getting weak, I have had viper alarms in pretty much all of my vehicles and normally they can sit at least 3 weeks before needing to be started and ran a bit, this is also in California and the heat will eat a good battery up in less than 4 years. I live in a very good neighborhood but I still wouldn't dare leave my alarm off I've had to many break in's in the past, with the alarm blinking they just pass it up, they don't look for camera's they look for alarms, i see facebook post's all the time of "my camera caught this" well they didn't catch the thief though.... just a nice video of what happened after the fact.